The McGrath's Kitchen blog is a meeting place for families alike who enjoy cooking together! The scope of my blog is to share recipes with others who like me cook everyday & care for the health of their family. I encourage people to buy local & in season. My scope is to learn from other mother's & homemakers. This is a loving blog where we share what has worked best for us. So folks lets get ready to cook, and why not have a glass of wine while doing it :) xSara

Thursday, 17 November 2011

Homemade Pumpkin Pie and Pate Brisse Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups of plain flower1 teaspoon of salt1 teaspoon of sugar1 cup of unsalted butter (chilled and cubed)1/2 cup of iced water

Combine the flour, salt, sugar and butter into a food processor and mix. While the food processor is running, slowly add ice water until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky (about 30 seconds)...to test if your dough is ready, squeeze a small amount of the dough together and if it crumbles just add some more ice water (a tablespoon at a time.) Once it is ready divide the dough into two equal balls, flatten each ball into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill in the refrigerator for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit.) With a sharp paring knife, cut several slits in the pumpkin (pierce the skin all the way through) to allow steam to escape. Place the pumpkin in a baking dish, pour about an inch of water at the bottom and bake for about 1 1/2 hours, until the skin is easy to peel off. Once the pumpkin is ready, cut off the top and scoop out the seeds...peel the skin and mash the pumpkin until it becomes a puree. Once it has been pureed place it in a drainer for about 10 minutes to discard of the excess water.

Between two pieces of plastic wrap, roll the pate brisee into a 30 centimeter circle. Fit pastry into a 22 centimeter glass pie plate. Trim the dough evenly along the edge, leaving about a 1 centimeter overhang...pinch to form a decorative edge. If the dough begins to soften, chill for 15 minutes. To make the glaze just beat the remaining egg, and combine with heavy cream. Brush the glaze very lightly on the edges of pie shell.

Fill the pie shell with the pumpkin mixture. Bake for 10 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (425 degrees Fahrenheit) then reduce heat to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and continue baking for 30 minutes more. Now just let it cool on a wire rack.Your pie should look like the above..I will be honest this was my first time making it. So ill look into perfecting the look of the pie. The taste was perfect and I couldn't have served a better tasting Pumpkin Pie.